Advanced Social Work Practitioner (Court Consultant) in Wakefield

We are seeking an experienced and highly skilled Advanced Social Work Practitioner – Court Consultant to join our Learning Academy in Wakefield. This specialist role is focussed on developing and strengthening court related practice across children’s services through expert guidance, mentoring, coaching and training. You will work alongside Advanced Social Work Practitioners and Training & Development Leads based in the Learning Academy, also providing support and working alongside Social Work Practitioners, Team Managers and newly qualified staff across Safeguarding and Children in Care teams across the Wakefield district.

Your responsibilities will be to enhance confidence, quality and consistency in court work, ensuring that practice is legally sound, child‑focussed and evidence based. The role combines direct court expertise with a strong practice development and learning focus.

So why choose Wakefield? Here at Wakefield, we know we are moving towards outstanding practice. We know this because:

• We have a strong and supportive team with effective leadership.
• You will have access to high quality and relevant training and development opportunities.
• We promote career progression to enable you to grow with us.
• We care about our workers and staff morale is good.

Benefits include essential car user payments, a minimum of 28 days paid annual leave (rising according to your grade and length of service), plus 8 days paid bank holidays. Your office base is in a location that has good transport links and parking. This gives us scope to be creative about how we want to shape our service. We have clear direction of where we want to be, and we want you to be a part of this journey.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide expert advice and consultation to social workers and managers on complex court cases (public and private law).
• Support practitioners to apply legislation, statutory guidance and case law confidentiality in practice.
• Quality assure court‑related work, including assessments, statements, chronologies and care plans.
• Support best practice in pre‑proceedings (PLO) and court processes.
• Mentor and coach Social Workers, including NQSWs, ASYE’s and experienced practitioners.
• Support reflective practice and professional curiosity in high‑risk and complex cases.
• Contribute to capability‑building and skills development across teams.
• Design and deliver training sessions and workshops on court skills.
• Contribute to the Learning Academy’s training offer and resources.
• Contribute to audits, learning reviews and development of practice guidance.
• Identify learning themes from court outcomes and feedback to Senior Managers.
• Promote informed, anti‑oppressive and strengths‑based practice.

Who are we looking for?

• A qualified and experienced social worker, with a proven track record in achieving the highest standards of practice.
• A practitioner with substantial post‑qualifying experience in Children & Families Social Work.
• Significantly experienced in court work and pre‑proceedings.
• An excellent communicator and have proven report writing skills as this position may entail presenting data and information to the Senior Leadership Team.
• Able to show extensive experience of mentoring, coaching and supporting practitioner development.
• Be interested in and confident enough to deliver training and workshops.
• A team player, passionate about contributing to quality service provision.
• You will be expected to assist the Team Manager and Head of Service by providing support and guidance to colleagues across CYPS in promoting collaboration, strong practice and positive change.
• Have experience of undertaking project work to support quality and performance improvement including service evaluation.

If you think this is you, apply to join our team. Choose Wakefield. For an informal discussion please contact Janette Snape on Jsnape@wakefield.gov.uk Interview dates: 13th & 17th Feb.